This invention concerns high molecular weight substance analysis and gas analysis apparatus and methods.
A problem with coal analysis is that exothermic reactions obscure results. Mixing coal with tungsten trioxide as a diluent helps. Low oxygen levels help to retard the exothermic reactions.
Work by the inventor has been centered around a controlled oxidation of coal as the temperature was gradually increased. Six years of studies and over 220 experiments resulted in a method showing some resolution (qualitative analysis) of the sulfur dioxide evolution from coal (diluted with tungsten trioxide) during oxidation with slowly increasing temperature. The results looked promising enough to continue the work. A quantitative system was assembled and continues to function today after well over 500 Runs.
The system works well, but conditions were not good enough to resolve the sulfur dioxide resulting from the pyritic sulfur and the second occurrence of organic sulfur detected from coal. The pyritic sulfur was oxidized just before the higher temperature organic sulfur, and much of the peak overlapped with the organic sulfur peak. That seriously limited the usefulness of that instrument in characterizing the amounts of pyritic and organic sulfur in coal or in providing a potential one step analysis method of the organic, inorganic and total sulfur in coal. Attempts continued to improve the instrument and to find conditions to resolve the sulfur dioxide evolved from oxidation of pyrite and organic sulfur in coal. That finally led to an all out attempt to find better reaction conditions.
A need continues to exist for apparatus for a systematic analysis of coal, particularly for forms of its sulfur content, and to analyze other substances and particularly high molecular weight substances.
Existing gas analysis cells have large volumes. Consequently a large volume of gas must be flowed into and out of a cell before a new significant reading may be taken. Quantities of available gases make purging inconvenient, wasteful and time consuming.
A need exists for analysis cells which may be readily filled, read and purged.